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United Kingdom

Government and society > Constitutional framework
Map/Still:United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Photograph:Houses of Parliament (Westminster Palace) and Big Ben, London, from Westminster Bridge.
Houses of Parliament (Westminster Palace) and Big Ben, London, from Westminster Bridge.
Dennis Marsico/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The country's head of state is the reigning king or queen, and the head of government is the prime minister, who is the leader of the majority political party in the House of Commons.

The British constitution is uncodified; it is only partly written and is flexible. Its basic sources are parliamentary and European Union legislation, the European Convention on Human Rights, and decisions by courts of law. Matters for which there is no formal law, such as the resignation of office by a government, follow precedents (conventions) that are open to development or modification. Works of authority, such as Albert Venn Dicey's Lectures Introductory to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885), are also considered part of the constitution.

Photograph:Chamber of the House of Commons in the Houses of Parliament, London.
Chamber of the House of Commons in the Houses of Parliament, London.
Rolf Richardson—Spectrum Colour Library/Heritage-Images

The main elements of the government are the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. There is some overlap between the branches, as there is no formal separation of powers or system of checks and balances. For example, the lord chancellor traditionally was a member of all three branches, serving as a member of the cabinet (executive branch), as the government's leader in the House of Lords (legislative branch), and as the head of the country's judiciary (judicial branch). However, constitutional reforms in 2006 stripped the office of most of its legislative and judicial functions, with those powers devolving to the lord speaker and the lord chief justice, respectively. That reform also created the Supreme Court, which in October 2009 replaced the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as the venue of last resort in the British legal system.

Sovereignty resides in Parliament, which comprises the monarch, the mainly appointive House of Lords, and the elected House of Commons. The sovereignty of Parliament is expressed in its legislative enactments, which are binding on all, though individuals may contest in the courts the legality of any action under a specific statute. In certain circumstances individuals may also seek protection under European law. Until 1999 the House of Lords consisted mainly of hereditary peers (or nobles). Since then it has comprised mainly appointed peers, selected by successive prime ministers to serve for life. As of November 2012, of 760 lords, 646 were life peers, 89 were hereditary peers, and another 25 were archbishops and bishops. Each of the 650 members of the House of Commons (members of Parliament; MPs) represents an individual constituency (district) by virtue of winning a plurality of votes in the constituency.

All political power rests with the prime minister and the cabinet, and the monarch must act on their advice. The prime minister chooses the cabinet from MPs in his political party. Most cabinet ministers are heads of government departments. The prime minister's authority grew during the 20th century, and, alone or with one or two colleagues, the prime minister increasingly has made decisions previously made by the cabinet as a whole. Prime ministers have nevertheless been overruled by the cabinet on many occasions and must generally have its support to exercise their powers.

Because the party with a majority in the House of Commons supports the cabinet, it exercises the sovereignty of Parliament. The royal right of veto has not been exercised since the early 18th century, and the legislative power of the House of Lords was reduced in 1911 to the right to delay legislation. The cabinet plans and lays before Parliament all important bills. Although the cabinet thus controls the lawmaking machinery, it is also subject to Parliament; it must expound and defend its policy in debate, and its continuation in office depends on the support of the House of Commons.

The executive apparatus, the cabinet secretariat, was developed after World War I and carries out the cabinet's decisions. It also prepares the cabinet's agenda, records its conclusions, and communicates them to the government departments that implement them.

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